Thriving through Fall.
An Essential Checklist to Staying Well in the Vata Season
I fell in love with Ayurveda for its intuitive simplicity. Not to say Ayurveda is simple, because it is beautifully comprehensive and intricately complex when you go deep in to its healing protocols. From the get-go it resonated with me so strongly. It was easy to recognize “THIS is my healing path”
Why?
It synchronizes with the rhythms of nature, which feels instinctual. It puts health and wellness back into my hands, which feels empowering. And it leads me back to mySELF, time and time again. In its marriage with yoga, the practices of Ayurveda are fully holistic in caring for us on every level of our being.
Ayurveda can seem intimidating in its language and philosophical depth. However, it imparts an easy strategy to keep our equilibrium. It is all about balance. Which sounds generic, I know. The basis, however, is in recognizing when you are moving foundationally too much into what you already are. Huh? Okay. Let’s break this down for fall. You’re here. I’m here. It’s here. Let’s do this.
Let’s look at all of this from the approach of seasonal self-care.
Autumn Wellness: Your Ultimate Vata-Balancing Guide
Here on the east coast - Fall has made its usual awkward and unpredictable entrance. The leaves are changing, now falling. The temperatures are fluctuating, now freezing. We are meant to adjust to these hardcore transitions. It can be destabilizing for our immunity, hard on our skin, and unsettling to our mind.
Next time you’re outside. Observe. What’s going on around you? Look to nature for the answers. What are the qualities you’re noticing in your surroundings…temperature, texture, and any subtleties. According to Ayurveda there are gunas, 10 pairs of opposites, that are descriptors for the inherent essence of everything we see. Including us.
Fall carries dry, rough, clear, subtle, mobile, light, sharp, and cool qualities. The key then to maintaining our wellness through this season is to move with the natural rhythm of our surroundings. **Most of us will need to counter-balance with warmth, stability, moisture, and grounding.
** If your own internal temperature runs high or you find yourself too sedentary, you may adjust with less warmth and more movement or avoid this checklist for Fall.
Essential Vata-Balancing Checklist:
(with the qualities we are working to balance)
Establish a Daily Routine: (Stable vs Mobile)
Wake up and go to bed at consistent times each day.
Maintain regular meals and exercise.
Be regimented in your morning and evening self-care routines.
Stay hydrated inside and out: (Oily vs. Dry)
Self-Massage - Use warm, organic Sesame Oil or herbal oil to massage your skin. Follow with a warm shower.
Regulate moisture with steam baths and humidifiers.
Drink lots of water and warm herbal teas.
Movement: (Stable vs. Mobile)
Choose slow, gentle, and strengthening exercises like walking, hiking, light weight training, and yoga.
Aim for workouts during the morning or early evening hours.
Exercise to 50-70 percent of your capacity to keep your energy levels up, but not depleted.
Eat Seasonally: (Warm vs. Cool)
Eat root vegetables and pumpkin and squash.
Soups and Stews. Make Kitchari.
Warming spices: cardamom, pepper, cinnamon, but nothing in excess.
Aromatherapy: (Warm vs. Cool)
Soothing Scents: lavender, geranium.
Grounding Scents: patchouli, frankincense.
Warming Scents: cinnamon, clove.
Stay Warm: (Warm vs. Cool)
Layer your clothing to stay warm throughout the day.
Protect your neck, head and ears on windy days.
Keep your feet warm.
Yoga Practice: (Stable vs. Mobile)
Warm the joints up slowly, set an intention to connect to the earth for a sense of grounding and avoid abrupt transitions.
Include gentle flows, standing and balancing poses, poses that connect you with the earth, forward bends, gentle inversions, and restorative poses.
Close your yoga practice with a long Savasana. Cover yourself with a blanket to stay warm.
Balance isn’t a static steady state. It takes an act of consistent effort to stay in equilibrium. We are in a dynamic dance in relationship to everything around us. Finding balance requires us to negotiate the ever-changing - the seasons, time, and our body.
The intricate complexity of ayurveda is that it ultimately addresses the individual. Self-care is never once size fits all. At the core of ayurveda is the knowledge that self-care is not just a commodity or empty routine. Each act of care is done with great intention. In these moments we honor our bodies and ourselves. Self-care is one of the most earnest spiritual practices. And in that, it transforms from routine to ritual - - self-care to self-love.
